I want my cycling mojo back!

[Catrin]

I admit it, I, Catrin, have lost my cycling mojo. She ran away from home at the end of summer and I want her to come home.

I think it was about injuries, and there have been quite a few in my 3 seasons of riding. Overuse injuries, major whiplash (mtb), and this last year I just went from one injury to another on the mountain bike trail. No wonder it became more attractive to lift heavy things and do wild stuff at the gym! Perhaps it isn't a surprise that ANYTHING this winter has been more attractive than the trainer. I guess it was just time to get off the bike for a time.

I am starting to watch riders, even in this cold weather, with a bit of longing. I probably need to approach riding differently this year, and plan events of different types - NOT just those that revolve around wheels. Balance is a good thing I really, really, really want to be able to ride through at least one season without preventable injury. Both PT and doctor are strongly hinting that the whiplash may not improve more than it has, at least not for a long time - so my mountain biking days may simply be over I guess that I just wasn't cut out for it, as much as I loved it. So perhaps the balance is to do my wild gym workouts and just focus on having fun on the bike - whatever that looks like!

So I need to entice my cycling mojo to return home... I wonder if she likes really good dark chocolate????

[Owlie]

((Catrin))

I wonder if yours is wherever mine is. Like yours, I think mine left due to injuries. Hard to get excited about cycling when you know that any ride more than 18-19 miles is going to hurt. And then I think not riding becomes a habit. This time last year I was enthusiastic about the trainer...or as enthusiastic about the trainer as one can get. I've been using it as a repair stand more than as a trainer this year.

[indysteel]

Don't force it. For many of us, it comes and goes. Come the first nice days of spring, my guess is that the urge to ride will kick back in, but if you're otherwise active (and you are) and enjoying yourself, I wouldn't sweat it. I, personally, really like taking a long break over the winter from riding. By spring, I'll likely be ready for break from running.

[Becky]

It happens to all of us... I took a multi-year break from cycling a few years ago and played soccer instead. I was swimming a lot last year, but haven't been in the pool in 6 months. C'est la vie...

You've certainly had a lot to deal with injury-wise, and I can understand why you'd want a break. Listen to your body and your heart, and the bike will be there when you're ready. You're still active, and that, IMO, is more important than the actual activity.

[ny biker]

I found myself forcing myself to ride my bike last fall. I think it was mostly due to being given a traffic citation during a ride when I was not actually doing anything illegal, and then having to wait almost 2 months for my court date to fight the ticket. Getting caught out in a severe thunderstorm during a ride a week after getting the ticket didn't help, and then being attacked by a swarm of mosquitoes that left me with more than 35 huge itchy welts while helping at a century rest stop the day after the storm just added insult to injury.

But whatever. I spent $300 on maintenance at the LBS a few weeks ago knowing that when the warm weather comes I'll be back on my bike. I also bought a nice short sleeve jersey with matching arm warmers. This weekend I'll be back at the LBS spending the $70 in coupons that I earned by paying for the maintenance and jersey during their annual "bike shop bucks" promotion wherein you earn coupons for purchases Jan 1-15 and then redeem them Jan 16-30. So I get to have fun shopping. I'm also looking forward to the bike club annual meeting and potluck dinner in early March. I think I'll bake cookies for that. And I'm looking forward to the annual Ride to End Hunger in Calvert County in late April, which is a great ride in a beautiful part of southern Maryland.

In the meantime I'll probably put the bike on the indoor trainer this weekend. Or maybe I'll go for a walk instead if it's not too cold. Variety is good.

So really, just do what you enjoy doing and keep things simple to try to avoid injuries. Stop and enjoy the scenery along the way.

(BTW the citation was for "impeding traffic while riding two abreast" and the verdict was not guilty. The officer who issued the citation didn't show up for the trial. If he had, I would have argued that I was not impeding traffic because (a) the lane was a substandard width so I was not required to stay as far to the right as practicable because a motor vehicle would have had to cross the yellow line to pass me with 3 feet of clearance and (b) there were no vehicles on the road behind me at the time and you cannot impede theoretical traffic.)

[Bike Writer]

(b) there were no vehicles on the road behind me at the time and you cannot impede theoretical traffic.)

I love how you think!

[Bike Writer]

Catrin,

I think it happens to everybody in any sport at one time or another, certainly injuries play a role. I recall looking at my bike in disdain after a nasty fall last year, but fell in love with it all over again after I was healed up and some time had passed.

[OakLeaf]

Oh boy, do I hear you. I wish I had advice - just lots of sympathy, because I'm in the same place right now. It *is* way easier emotionally to just cut something out, than to cut it back and find different ways of doing it. Do take advantage of the enforced break of the winter weather ... put out some feelers for less challenging rides, fire roads, etc., where you might be able to ride with less risk of falling. January isn't the time to be stressing about what might happen in May (yeah, okay, I'm stressing about what might happen in April, but that's DIFFERENT. ). Use this time to heal, re-group, find other ways to get inside your head (or outside it, whichever it is that the trails bring you). Hang in there.